Houston Guitarist Scott A. Smith Joins WorkshopLive

Americans go online to find the perfect date, psychotherapist and real estate agent. So how about clicking the mouse a few times to find your soulmate musician, who can teach you to play guitar riffs like Eric Clapton?

Houston guitarist Scott A. Smith is one of a group of “soulmate” rock, jazz, blues and classical artists chosen to participate in a groundbreaking national internet-based program called WorkshopLive. The first of its kind in the world, the program uses a patent-pending student-teacher matching engine to pair aspiring Eric Claptons and Chick Coreas with a professional musician like Smith who is best-suited to turn their musical dreams into reality. More than 60,000 music fans have viewed Scott A. Smith’s blues jams on YouTube.com and other video directories.

In fact, students can actually “interview” WorkshopLive’s pro musicians online to find the one they would like to hook up with. In addition to a video interview with the artist, they can hear a sample of the musician’s playing.

The idea behind WorkshopLive’s matching engine, explains Smith, is that it’s easier for students to learn how to play an instrument when they are guided by someone who’s compatible with their musical interests, learning style and temperament.

“Until now, if you wanted to play guitar, you would have to conform to your teacher’s instructional and playing techniques,” said Smith. “WorkshopLive takes the exact opposite approach and matches you with a musician who’s attuned to your specific needs and interests. It’s basically the same principle as an online dating service, only it’s designed to bring together the musically compatible.”

Along with things like age, music genre, skill level and favorite artists, the matching engine pairs students and teachers on the basis of cognitive learning style (auditory, visual, tactile or kinesthetic). For example, some beginning instrument players tend to be “ear” learners, while others are more visually oriented, explains Smith. The former would be matched with a musician who likes to illustrate lessons by playing demos, while the latter would be teamed with one who puts more emphasis on sheet music.

Once students get paired with their ideal musical mentor, they start WorkshopLive’s interactive online lesson program ( www.workshoplive.com ). Just like finding the right teacher, everything about the program is designed to give the student control over determining the way he or she learns best. Students learn at their own time schedule and pace, and can even create their own curriculum. Each student gets a customized home page that features articles, interviews and a “cut of the day,” based on his or her own personal interests.

“The whole idea is that no one knows how you learn better than you do, so people will make more progress if they’re given empowerment over their own learning process,” said Smith. “By putting this into practice, WorkshopLive is offering a totally new way to learn an instrument, which I believe is more effective than anything I’ve ever experienced before. It will change the way the world learns music.”

Smith brings to WorkshopLive over twenty-five years of musical experience in a wide variety of styles. A recording artist, live performer and teacher, Smith has released three CDs, two as a member of the group Stride.

Describing his musical style as Progressive Rock thrown into a huge bubbling cauldron along with liberal amounts of Blues, Country, Jazz, and various other musical and non-musical influences, Smith will undoubtedly be a “perfect match” for many WorkshopLive students who wish to learn guitar.

In addition to guitar lessons, the WorkshopLive program offers keyboard instruction and will be expanding to other instruments soon. Guitar and keyboard lessons are available in rock, jazz, blues, acoustic and classical genres.